Friday, July 10, 2009

Weekender

FRIDAY

Strange Boys/Coathangers/Bad Sports (the Lounge): I avoided the Coathangers for a while. I just didn't have room in my life for another Fader-friendly garage rock band from Georgia. However, further inspection revealed this to be a foolish preemptive dismissal, which we can all be guilty of, especially when you willfully overexpose yourself to the daily promo glut and accompanying bottom feeding aspects of the "industry." My point is, my interest was raised when I saw that The Coathangers were said to be reading a different (and less explored) page of Georgia's musical history, they were compared to Pylon. And though I wouldn't necessarily go that far, I can say that there is a more adventurous disconnect between the instruments that gives the group a similar kind of scrambling attack. Two more obvious garage punk-influenced bands are performing, and nothing against them of course, especially not the always great Bad Sports. (DL)

The Takeover with Select/AV/VMB (Zubar): This new monthly even on the second Friday of each month will feature reggae, hip hop, reggaeton, salsa, merengue, funk, and bachata. Sounds like it should be good, and certainly something different for a lot of our readers I'm sure.

Earth, Wind and Fire/Chicago (Nokia Theater): Has Earth, Wind and Fire seen an even bigger rise in their legendary profile lately after it was revealed that they were Barack Obama's favorite band of all time? Hard to say, but either way, they probably don't need it. Their early singles are undeniable, of course, "Shining Star," "Let's Groove," and "September," among others, but I've recently taken a liking to some of their later, 80's snyth funk material, of which the 1983 album Powerlight is the best example. This whole thing makes me wonder what some of our former Presidents' favorite bands were. I read somewhere that George W. Bush loved motherfucking Night Ranger, which makes sense-- can't you just picture that shithead pumping his fists to the chorus of "Sister Christian" alone on the couch at 6AM, polishing off that last beer with that one last line of coke, rejoicing in the fact that he'll never have to worry about anything for the rest of his life? God bless Texas, yall.

Neckhold/Aphonic Curtains/Ascites (House of Tinnitus): This is a return to a more complete harsh noise lineup at HOT with the headlining act, Neckhold, impressively traveling all the way from Australia on an interhemispheric journey to perform their vicious combination of noise and screaming. Habeeb is the name of the solo project for Steel hook Prosethes' L. Kerr. He has been working on the project on and off since 2001. Though it's much more expansive and ambient-sounding than the rest of these acts, it is by no means less intense, and has a cloudy and brooding quality to the music. (DL)

Matt and Kim/Giggle Party (House of Blues): I know this show is in the smaller Cambridge Room, but its surprising that Matt and Kim are playing such a big venue, and even more surprising that a relatively new band like Giggle Party is opening-- two groups that normally stick to DIY venues

Wanda Sykes (Nokia Theater): The Sykes roast of Obama is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while, particularly her comments about Sean Hannity. And her performances on Curb Your Enthusiasm are almost all gems, especially the Crazy Eyez Killa episode. I know a lot of people don't feel the same way, but I love Wanda Sykes.